FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BETHLEHEM HOME - PAGE 3

A fire, which was not reported to the Fire Department for a half-hour, caused $20,000 damage yesterday morning in a Bethlehem home. Bethlehem firefighters reported that flames were coming out the living room window at the home of Carmen Liacea, 401 Central Blvd., Bethlehem, when they arrived shortly after 8:30 a.m. Lt. John Edelman reported that Liacea's 14-year-old daughter was cooking something on the stove about 8 a.m. and placed some school papers on the stove before going upstairs.

The head of the Bethlehem Firefighters Union was arrested Sunday night after a fight with his girlfriend at their Bethlehem home, police said. Police said James Schlener, 33, of 617 Second Ave., punched Nicole Motchos, 27, several times, hit her with an aluminum sewing kit, and broke a glass candleholder over her head, causing a large cut to the side of her head that required four staples to close. When police arrived shortly after 11 p.m., Motchos had locked herself in a bathroom.

On the ground and sill beneath the shattered window of a downtown Bethlehem home, police found a large pool of blood and a trail of droplets. The homeowner was missing $1,700 worth of belongings, including a camcorder and camera, from the Wednesday afternoon break-in. Crime scene investigators began following the bloody trail, theorizing the end of the spots could be where they find their suspect. The splatters were scattered down Heckewelder Place to Market Street and the dribbles continued on New and Walnut streets.

Artist Thomas Dorshimer always looked at deer as the kind of docile animals he'd sometimes paint into his landscape scenes to capture the serenity of nature. That view changed quickly Saturday afternoon when one of those hairy creatures of nature crashed through the living room window of his downtown Bethlehem home and thrashed about in the first floor before blasting back out through a kitchen window. "This was no Bambi," said Dorshimer. "This was a six-point buck and I sure wasn't getting in his way. He was pretty spooked."

A former Bethlehem woman who failed to summon help immediately for a 15-year-old boy who lapsed into a coma after drinking at her home was placed on probation for three years. Constance Weber, 46, who lived at 2667 Nottingham Road on Jan. 31 when her stepchildren hosted an impromptu drinking party for teenagers, pleaded no contest Friday to charges of reckless endangerment and corruption of minors. Northampton County Judge Edward G. Smith also fined Weber, who has moved to Florida, $2,500 and ordered her to perform 150 hours of community service and to write a letter of apology to Kevin Jones of Bethlehem Township, the boy who fell ill, and his mother.

A Northampton County woman received two years' probation for dumping gasoline into the basement of a home owned by her then-husband's girlfriend. Helene Miller, 48, of 1217 Stafore Drive, Hanover Township, also must pay $605 in court costs and wear a GPS tracking monitor for the first six months of her sentence, Northampton County Judge Anthony Beltrami ruled Thursday. Miller pleaded no contest to risking a catastrophe, a third-degree felony, on July 11. Other charges -- arson, criminal mischief, and stalking -- were withdrawn.

A man in prison for a fatal shooting in Allentown in March 2000 was charged Wednesday with participating in a Bethlehem home invasion robbery five months before the killing. Bethlehem police said Shamal L. Jones, 21, identified by police as a member of the Bloods gang, forced his way into a south Bethlehem home with another man and a 15-year-old boy on Oct. 20, 1999, and one of them pistol-whipped a resident and took $990. Jones was arraigned by District Justice Nancy Matos Gonzalez on charges of robbery, aggravated assault and related offenses.

Health and animal officials removed 89 cats, most of them unhealthy, from a south Bethlehem home Tuesday. Many of the cats were trembling, infested with fleas and dying of starvation. It was too much for Barbara Wilhelm, vice president of the board of the Northampton County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Just save as many as you can," she told workers at the group's shelter in Williams Township. She said that by Wednesday afternoon at least half of the cats had been euthanized, but even the surviving ones are in poor condition.

A Bethlehem woman repeatedly allowed, and encouraged, boys to have sex with two teen girls in her home while she acted as a lookout, according to court documents. Sheila Maria Vazquez, 35, turned herself in to Bethlehem police Wednesday on 92 counts each of corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children. Police said they are unsure why Vazquez allegedly allowed dozens of sexual encounters in her home. Vazquez declined to speak with police, and her attorney, Edward Andres of Bethlehem, could not be reached for comment.

A Southern Lehigh middle school teacher accused of selling meth from his Bethlehem home earlier this year has been released under $100,000 bail, a federal judge ruled Thursday. Garrett Dudeck, 43, of 1715 Watkins St. was arrested Monday by Drug Enforcement Agency agents and is charged with conspiracy to distribute and distribution of 5 grams or more of methamphetamine. Dudeck appeared for a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin, who released Dudeck on bail that will be secured by the equity in his home.